


Bloom Later

by Fiddlestixkss



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Arthur Just Wants To Be Left Alone, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, FACE Family, Francis Cares A Lot About Him, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied Russia/Canada, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28326660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiddlestixkss/pseuds/Fiddlestixkss
Summary: Arthur was used to spending Christmas alone so what made this Christmas so different? A few familiar faces...
Relationships: England/France (Hetalia)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Bloom Later

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Catapily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catapily/gifts).



> Hi! Okay, this is the second fanfic I am submitting on this new account and it's actually for a Secret Santa Exchange for Catapily and I had a lot of fun writing this as well and I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> 1.) Alistair = Scotland
> 
> 2.)Hidekaz Himaruya

The Brit heard his alarm clock go off and let out a loud groan, slamming his hand on the device. Slowly opening his eyes, he shied away from the sun and slowly rose from the bed, rubbing his eyes. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and got up with a stretch. The Brit paused momentarily as his mind began to catch up with him and something had felt odd. Shrugging the thought away, he made his way into the restroom and proceeded to get ready for the day. As the brit brushed his teeth, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out to see a surprising notification. It was the 25th of December. Christmas day.

An anxious feeling made his way into his stomach and he slowly stopped brushing his teeth, allowing his thoughts to run.  _ ‘So no Merry Christmas’  _ he thought, but quickly shut his thoughts down. ‘ _ Why do I care, it’s not like I care to celebrate it...’  _ But the small inkling of sadness didn’t go away. Usually, he would get a bombardment of messages from Alfred and even a small message from Matthew, but it was as if they had forgotten to wish him a merry Christmas.  _ ‘Whatever...’  _ After leaving the restroom, he made his way to the closet and changed into his winter clothes. He could feel himself getting slightly annoyed and already wanted the day over with.  _ ‘Hopefully, this bloody meeting doesn’t last long with those useless fools…’  _

His anxiety hadn’t cleared and slowly began to lose his appetite as he made his way into the kitchen. Sighing with annoyance, he walked to the door and headed out, ignoring the consistent usage of French around him.  _ ‘Stupid bloody language.’  _ He felt his hands ball up to a fist, but relaxed, why was he so annoyed?  _ ‘Maybe because you expected at least a Merry Christmas from Matthew?’  _ he once again shut down that idea and tried to think of something else.  _ ‘At least I get to go back home tomorrow…’  _

That thought lifted his mood slightly and decided it was best if he thought of being alone tomorrow when he got him. He always preferred being alone. Even when it came to group activities, being alone was something he had preferred because it was just easier...and he was used to it. It was nothing new...and to top it off, the amount of snow he was dealing with currently was absolutely horrid.  When he finally got to the meeting area, he sighed entering the hallway, and felt a headache come on. To his surprise, he didn’t hear a boisterous laugh, but his shock wore off as he got closer to the room. _ ‘Classic Alfred… I wonder if he’ll say anything about Christmas if I go in…’ _

He cleared his throat slowly, opening the door, and quickly dodged a chair headed in his direction.

“What in bloody-”

“Oh sorry Britain dude, I was showing China here a trick-”

He angrily pointed at the chair. “What trick could’ve possibly involved throwing a chair, you idiot!” He ignored the American’s useless rambling and took his spot near Francis, who began giving him weird glances.

“What do you want frog?” Arthur rolled his eyes but turned to face him anyway. “I can’t tell if you’re giving me a stupid look or if it’s just your face,”

“Why the glum attitude, today is full of wonders and magic!”

That caught the Brit’s attention. “What’re you five?”

“Being excited for Christmas is something everyone should feel,” Francis leaned in closer to him and he pulled away suspiciously. “And plus I know how much you like Christmas considering-”

“And what about it?” He said defensively. “It’s not a big deal-”

“Oui, but we can do something this year, for once,”

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and was slightly taken aback at the suggestion. Not only was he surprised that Francis remembered one of his favorite holidays, but Francis actually wanted to spend time with him. A small exciting feeling settled in his stomach, but he squashed it. He would never spend his Christmas with anyone, let alone Francis.

“Let me think about it,” He sarcastically replied, with an eye roll. “No, I’d prefer to be alone-”

“But you always try to spend it alone,” Francis sighed. “Do you not want to try something new this year?”

“Fun fact frog, I don’t care about doing new things and you and I both know that so don’t act so surprised,” He was met with silence and let out a sigh of relief, but still felt a pair of eyes on him.

“We can do what you want,”

“Excuse me?”

“Today, we choose any activity you want to do-”

“Why’re you so adamant about spending the day with me?” He blurted. Francis was persistent when it always came to annoying him, but the persistence to hang-out was...unusual. The other blond stared at him, but this time with a smile, leaving the question in the air. Before he could pry the answer out. Alfred’s voice made its way to his ears and he turned to face the front. He hadn’t even realized the meeting had started.

Throughout the whole meeting, he couldn’t bring himself to fully interject in the American’s stupid ideas. Francis’ weird behavior had been on his mind the whole time.  _ ‘This isn’t the first time he’s been on your mind during a meeting-’  _ He silently gagged at that thought and felt himself turn red. While he tried to find ways to distract his mind, it always led back to him thinking of Francis. He couldn’t deny that there was a part of him that wanted to spend time with the Frenchman as they had used to, but he still had his suspicions.  _ ‘Stupid frog always making me feel...funny…’  _ He shouldn’t have been thinking of him in any manner, but being near Francis always brought up weird feeling that he couldn’t explain. Was the frog annoying? Extremely! But it didn’t erase the adrenaline he received from being around him. It couldn’t erase the mixed feelings that arose when they argued...or even when he received the slightest bit of attention from him.

“If you are having a problem, you know you can tell me, yes?”

Arthur turned to look at the Frenchman, now annoyed. “What more do you want from me?”

“Well, the meeting is over and you’ve been staring off into space for the last few minutes,”

The Brit looked around and realized the room was emptied out, except for Matthew and Ivan. ‘ _ Since when did they get close? Where did everyone else go?’ _ Arthur got up from his chair and ignored the other nation.

“Can we at least go ice skating together?” Francis placed a hand on his shoulder and he tensed up, feeling his face go red. 

“Where can anyone go ice skating right now?”

“So it’s a yes?” Francis sent him a smile, looping an arm around him and Arthur felt himself melt a little. He hadn’t realized how touch-deprived he was until he felt himself caving into Francis’ touch. He turned slightly to get a better look at him and realized how much of a mistake that was. Francis was gorgeous, which was nothing new, but something about him seemed different.  _ ‘Why does he look more handsome than usual…’ _

“Fine sure whatever, but like I said, where are we supposed to go ice skating on Christmas day?”

“Leave that up to me!” 

“Whatever…” Arthur replied. He slipped out of the arm and noticed Matthew and Alfred walking away. He felt a little bit of bitterness as he watched them walk away without a care in the world.  _ ‘Do they hate me that much?’  _ They made their way outside and Arthur squeezed his arms around himself. While it was nice having snowy, cold weather on Christmas, it was a pain in the ass to actually be outside during it. He warmed his hands up and felt another pair of hands come in contact with his.

“What’re you doing?” 

Francis gave him a cheeky smile, but made no indication of answering him.“Have you noticed how close Matthew and Ivan have become?”

Arthur nodded, allowing himself to accept the hand “Yeah, it’s kind of weird and I’m not sure if we should tell him to be on defense about him,”

“Oui, but I feel as if Matthew has always been attracted to very… interesting people, no?”

“Well...” Arthur slightly cocked his head to the side. If he was being honest, he didn’t know much about Matthew’s relationship with people. He usually assumed they would’ve been well off considering how nice the Canadian was, but the more he thought about it, the more Francis’ words made sense. “It’s probably because he’s so nice, why are you so curious anyway?”

Francis sent him a mischievous smile. “Because I just saw Matthew and Ivan by the shop over there,” A part of Arthur knew he shouldn’t be encouraging Francis’ antics, but couldn’t help be a little curious about Matthew and Ivan as well. They looked at each other for a few seconds, agreeing with the unspoken idea, and quickly headed to where the other pair was.

“They had to be on a date!” Francis said happily. “Mon petit Mathieu has found someone to love-”

“Not just someone, Ivan of all people!” Arthur chipped in. “I get that you love the idea of love itself, but Ivan and Matthew seem like a preposterous idea, the only thing they have in common is liking hockey-” His words were cut short when he was pulled behind a pot of flowers and in front of the Frenchman. Francis cupped a hand over his mouth, shushing him and Arthur felt himself turn red at their odd position. He was squished between the plants and Francis’ chest, which felt more toned than he thought.  _ ‘This feeling…’  _ He squirmed a little and finally looked in Matthew and Ivan’s direction. They were smiling happily at each other while sniffing roses. “ _ Of course they were doing nothing, they are just friends, so no funny business.’  _ He slowly moved Francis’ hand from his mouth and gave a cheeky smile.

“Nothing suspicious, they really are just-” His sentence was cut off when he saw Matthew aggressively grab Ivan and kiss him.  They both gasped a little at the actions. “Francis they just…” 

“And did you see how aggressive that was?” Francis whispered back. They continued to watch the other pair and noticed Ivan’s face turn a deep shade of red while Matthew gave him a smile. If things couldn’t get any weird, they just had. The Canadian dragged Ivan into the men’s restroom and Arthur felt Francis’ body shake. He quickly looked at the Frenchman to check if he was crying,  but instead, Francis was laughing. After coming to terms that Matthew and Ivan were not coming out anytime sooner, the pair moved away. Making their way back onto the sidewalk, they remained quiet, as they attempted to process what they just saw.

“What’s so funny?”

Francis looked at him wide-eyed. “Did you not see the look he gave him?” The Brit remained confused. “Our little Matthew isn’t as innocent as we think…”

Arthur took a quick note of the “our” and felt his stomach do flips. “I’m not sure how him dragging Ivan into the bathroom proves…” He slowly stopped speaking as he realized what Francis was insinuating. 

“That makes me wonder how long they’ve been an item-”

“Do you think Alfred knows?”

“I doubt it, I can’t see him being too happy with this…” Arthur shrugged and felt Francis grab his hand “What-”

“It’s Christmas day and we should hurry and go ice skate!” The Frenchman continued to pull him into the direction of the figure skating rink. He wasn’t as skilled in the area of skating, but he wasn’t as bad as Antonio, so that was better than nothing. When they got to the rink, they received their skates at the automatic kiosk and within 5 minutes, they were on the ice.

“Do you know how to ice skate?” Francis asked, carefully guiding him on the ice. There weren't as many people on the ice, but he preferred it that way. Arthur turned slightly red as the other blond continued to help him and he felt himself begin to grow embarrassed.

“What joke are you going to come up with this time!” Arthur said defensively. “You raised a northern nation, how do you not know how to skate!” Francis looked confused and just gave him a soft smile, causing him to feel even more embarrassed at his small outburst. Francis skated in front of him, positioning himself to skate backwards, and held both of his hands. Surprisingly, it brought him some comfort and he slowly began to squeeze his hand. As they skated slowly, he couldn’t bring himself to look at Francis.  _ ‘Why can’t I look into his stupid...beautiful eye-’ _

“No, I was just asking so I know to stay by your side the whole time,” Francis placed himself next to the Brit and intertwined their fingers in a more intimate manner. Moments like these confused him and he never knew what to make of them. One minute Francis would make a cruel remark teasing him in some weird manner, the next he was making intimate gestures with him.  _ ‘I wish we weren't wearing gloves...maybe I could feel how soft his hands are-’  _ He turned red at his own thoughts and lightly shook his head.

“A penny for a thought?” Francis looked at him moving a hair out of his face and Arthur surprisingly didn’t object. “I learned that phrase from Alfred!” 

He hummed, questioning himself on whether he should be honest or lie to him. “Well, there isn’t really much I can tell you about what I’m thinking about, how about you?”

“Well, to be honest, I’ve been having a minor issue with someone,” 

That peaked his fancy and a laugh slipped from his mouth, “I thought you said everyone liked you,”

“Oui, but this one person is very hard to read…” Arthur picked up on how distant Francis sounded and couldn’t help but feel a little off. Francis was a master when it came to relationships, whether platonic or romantic and he always found a way to work it out. To think that someone could be causing this issue for him, annoyed the Brit a little bit.  _ ‘Only I'm allowed to bother him…’ _

“What do you mean?” 

“Well,” Francis pursed his lips, looking straight ahead, schooling a serious expression. “I would like to be there for this person and they do tend to let me in sometimes, but then they go back to closing themselves off and I can’t tell if it’s because they’re scared or not,”

“Scared of you?” The Brit laughed and jokingly patted his back. “Who would be scared of you,”

“You tell me,” Francis’ voice became serious and Arthur felt as if the question was somehow directed towards him, yet not. 

Arthur sped up slightly on his skates and looked down at the ice, “Have you considered that maybe that person just likes being left alone?”

“Oui, but everyone craves someone, even just a little bit,” Francis squeezed his hand and he unconsciously squeezed back, showing him comfort. “While we may not be human, we do have emotions like them so it’s normal to want to crave human interaction you know,” 

Once again, he felt as if Francis was treading on the line of talking about him, but calling him out would only be weird...and plus, Francis was clearly talking about someone else. Come to think of it, who could he be talking about.  He finally looked at Francis and sighed “W-who are you talking about anyway?”

“A...friend…”

Arthur felt himself become even more curious. “What friend, do I know them?” Francis nodded, yet shrugged and Arthur felt even more confused than before. “Well yes or no?” The Frenchman repeated the same action and Arthur let out an annoyed groan. “How do you expect me to help you if I can’t get an idea of who you’re talking about?”

“Well,” The Frenchman went back to skating in front of him but seemed to have gotten closer. “They’re hard-headed, stubborn, kind of arrogant and clearly don’t know how to communicate, but I’ve known them for centuries and I know deep down inside, they are just hard to understand because they struggle to understand themself,”

The more Arthur listened to the characteristics of this person, the more he could feel himself get annoyed. Francis' tone when explaining this person seemed off, but it wasn’t negative. It was as if he was yearning for this person. It was as if- “Are you in love with this person?” Arthur blurted, now looking into his eyes. Francis couldn’t hide stuff like this when it came to his eyes… They always told a different story when it came to love for him. He stopped skating and the other country halted as well. A nasty feeling began to build up in his stomach.

“Well, I don’t know-”

“Yes, you are!” The feeling in his stomach began to get worse. “In the years that I’ve known you if there’s one thing you can’t hide from me it’s when you have fallen in love with someone…”

“Okay, fine you’re right, I love this person-”

“Well for how long then, because this has clearly been bugging you for a while!” A silence came between the two of them and Arthur spoke to cover whatever weird tension was created. “This isn’t something we can talk about here, let’s go-”

“Go where?” 

“To sit down, duh,” Arthur pulled slowly onto the Frenchman and they made it to the exit of the ice skating rink and continued to pull him over to their shoes. He quickly replaced his skates and stood from the chair, waiting for the Frenchman.  _ ‘He needs to hurry up, I need to know who he’s talking about!’  _

“Well, it started like I said, a long time ago, like really long ago and I wish I realized it a long time ago, but I was in denial if I’m being honest,”

The only people Arthur could think of were Gilbert, Antonio, or Alistair. The thought of Francis possibly loving his brother made him feel ten times worse than before and he nearly let out a groan noise.  _ ‘What if I just list off the people…’  _

“Is it Antonio?” Arthur blurted, tapping his chin in thought, and felt relief when Francis shook his head. The relief feeling died down when a reminder that Francis’ lover could be his brother came into his mind. They had been friends for so long so it really was to be expected.  _ ‘But I’ve been his friend for a long time also...why can’t he just lo-’  _ He quickly ended his thoughts and turned his attention back to Francis. They walked in the direction of a more secluded area before Francis began spilling his guts.

“As I said, I haven’t had the opportunity to tell this person how I feel and I can’t tell if they return these feelings and believe it or not,” Francis gave him a weak smile “I would rather not get rejected-”

“Why’re you telling me this?” 

“I assumed we were friends and friends tell each other things, no?”

_ ‘Well, he’s not wrong…’  _ Arthur thought with a shrug “Well who else knows?”

“Well other than Antonio and Gilbert, no one.”

Arthur nodded and quickly checked Gilbert off the list.  _ ‘But then that only leaves Alistar…’  _ All of a sudden he felt the strong urge to end the conversation. Who cares who he loved, love was stupid anyway. “W-well I hope you figure out your feelings, yeah?” He crossed his arms, now annoyed at the situation, and huffed. “Let’s go find something else to do, I’m getting tired of standing here…” To his surprise, Francis was quiet, but didn’t seem to interject.

“That’s fine, where would you like to go?”

“The Christmas carnival is open and is only 5 minutes away from us since it’s near the center,”

“And I can win you some toys, oui?”

“Who the hell said you would win, what if I win you toys?” Arthur said, but quickly realized what he said. “Not like I want to anyway…”

“Just admit,” Francis turned and began walking away “You’re afraid of losing to me, it’s getting embarrassing just thinking of all the ways I could beat you,” And with that, the Frenchman let out a small laugh, and Arthur stood there, feeling some form of confusion again. Did Francis just admit to wanting to buy him something? Something about that seemed intimate and while there was a warm feeling at that thought, he reminded himself that Francis was in love with someone else. _‘He’s just teasing, why would he even love you?’_ He slowly caught up to him and tried his  best to match the energy of the other nation. It wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t likable...Francis had every right to dislike him...and to top it off, Alistar was better than him in every way. He was funny, mature, and could actually handle Francis...Arthur on the other hand was much worse…

The walk to the carnival was short, but half of his mind was consumed with Francis’ love confession for the other person. Why was he so afraid?  _ ‘Because you feel like deep down inside, he was always there for you and you might have nothing if he leaves you-’  _

“If I win this one, you tell me what you’ve been thinking about, yeah?”

“I already told you, I’m not thinking of anything important-”

“I’ve known you for centuries, I can read it on your face when there’s something bothering you and from the looks of it, it’s pretty important…”

If he was honest, he wasn’t surprised that Francis was wagering on this. He had forked information out of him and now it seemed it was his turn.  _ ‘It’s only fair, but I’ll make up a lie…’  _ Turning around to face the game booth, he smiled “How about 3 out of 5 and then I tell you, yeah?”

“So if I win 3 out of 5 games, you’ll tell me, but if you win three out of 5-”

“Then we don’t ever bring it up, yeah?” At this point, he was hoping Francis would drop the conversation. He didn’t want to hear about Francis’ lovers and overall, he didn’t want to talk about love in general. They stood in front of a dartboard that had balloons and Francis asked for 5 darts from the kiosk person. Francis only missed two and Arthur actually felt slightly intimidated. When Arthur’s turn came up, he closed one eye pretending as if had an eye patch, and was able to get all 5 balloons.

“Well, would you look at that!” Arthur aggressively patted Francis’ back ignoring the funny look he was being given. The kiosk person handed Arthur a random stuffed bear and the pair stalked off to another amusement game. “The British empire is still-”

“Is still non-existence old man, you winning one game doesn’t mean anything, it was all beginner's luck!” Francis jokingly shoved him away and then crossed his arms. 

Unfortunately, Francis seemed to be right and his beginners' luck didn’t last. By the end of it all, France had managed to win 3 out of 5 stuffed animals but was nice enough to give him some. The time had passed much quicker than he had expected.  _ ‘Maybe it’s because you were having fun…’ _ Today was probably a lot more fun than he wanted to admit and it was definitely a day he would cherish deeply. Christmas’ always seemed to go weird, but this one was...different.  _ ‘Yeah because you’re spending time with Francis-’ _ The pair made it to a random dock and Francis continued to laugh his ass off, ignoring all the insults he hurled at him. As they stared out into the frozen water, a cold breeze blew by them and there was a weird, tense silence.

“Now tell me, what seems to be on your mind,” Francis continued to stare off into the distance, but Arthur could tell that he was going to listen.  _ ‘Of course, he does, he cares for you...he’s one of the few people who has ever truly cared for you, no matter how annoying you’ve been…’  _

“Do you really want to know what’s on my mind…” He grabbed the wooden part of the pier and stared at his hands. “You can’t laugh…” From the corner of his eye, he saw the Frenchman nod and sighed slowly “So recently, flying mint bunny-” 

“Why do you do that…” Francis’ tone changed to a more annoyed one, which caught him by surprise.  _ ‘What’s he talking about-’ _

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play coy with me,” The french man huffed out a breath of annoyance and placed his chin on his hand. “Every time I try to figure out what’s wrong with you, you change the subject.” Another breeze blew by, but this time the silence was tense and awkward. It was like the one before.

  
“Well…” He couldn’t lie his way out of this one, it seemed Francis was getting annoyed...and for once, he didn’t want to annoy him. He had always had some strange idea that if he annoyed Francis enough, he would leave. Like everyone else. _‘He’s fallen in love with someone, of course, he’s going to leave you…’_ Arthur wasn’t sure where these thoughts were coming from,  but he couldn’t deny some of them anymore.  _ ‘Just admit that the thought of him being with someone else hurts because…’  _ He shook his head “Well, maybe it’s because I just don’t want to talk about it!”

“Oui, but why don’t you want to talk about it,”

“It’s pointless to talk about, why would you ruin such a good day by asking me such an annoying question-”

“It’s not annoying, you just don’t like talking about how you’re feeling!” Arthur crossed his arms and pivoted away from Francis in discomfort.  _ ‘Just tell him how you feel, it won’t hurt you!’  _ The Brit squeezed his own arms, gritting his teeth, and opened his mouth to speak, but Francis beat him to it.”You are truly insufferable…” Francis patted his head softly, gazing into his eyes and memory came to him

_ Arthur plopped onto the grass and scooted back underneath the big tree to get under the shade. He pulled his hood over his head to cover his face even more and brought his knees to his chest. Today was no different from usual and it seemed the attacks from the others were getting worse. He wanted to ask Alistair, but a part of him was too embarrassed to be seen in this manner by him. Squeezing himself a little more into the tree, he felt a small breeze go through and a small tear drop fell onto his hand. Moments like these made him crave having at least an ally...or even a friend. _

_ “Fighting with the others again?” _

_ Arthur‘s breath hitched as he wiped his eyes and looked up the tree to see no one other than Francis. “Oh sod off-” _

_ Francis gave him a weird look and placed himself in a sitting position on the tree branch, allowing his legs to dangle. “Were you crying?” _

_ “I…” Arthur froze up at the question, which had taken him by surprise. How could the idiot tell? He put on a more neutral look and rolled his eyes. “What do you want,” _

_ “I just wanted to see how you were doing since I haven’t seen you in a while, but it seems you are still in the same position as last time.” Francis hoped down from the tree and took a seat next to him. “Still losing fights-”  _

_ “If you came here to be annoying-” _

_ “Non, I came to actually see how you were doing,” The small nation attempted to get a better look at him “If you’re having so much trouble with dealing with this on your own, why not ask for help?” _

_ “Just so everyone can laugh at me and call me weak,” Arthur shook his head, now annoyed “Yeah no thanks,” He heard a sigh come from Francis and the next thing he knew, he was being pulled into a hug. “What-” _

_ “Asking for help doesn’t mean you’re weak,” Francis commented softly. “You feel like everyone else and there’s no shame in that because you don’t have to deal with everything on your own,” _

_ Arthur absorbed his words and slowly allowed himself to hug back and let go. Francis was an asshole to say the least, but he was a comforting one that somehow always managed to be there for him...and it was nice...a matter of fact, no one could comfort him better than Francis...and he wouldn’t mind it only ever being him for the rest of his life- _

_ “You know…” Francis placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair “You’re truly insufferable…” _

It was a memory he held onto dearly because at that moment, nothing mattered except for the soft feeling of Francis’ arms.  _ ‘It’s always been about him huh...maybe it’s because’  _ He gulped at his thought and felt terror fill his stomach.  _ ‘Maybe you actually...lo-’  _ He dropped his arms and squeezed his fist by his side, annoyed at his own actions. A large part of his brain was telling him to just brush it off and ignore these feelings. Pushing them away would be easier than dealing with them...but like Francis said  _ ‘You don’t have to deal with everything on your own-’  _

“Francis…” he mumbled under his breath and finally looked at him. “I...you’re right, there’s a small problem I’ve been having for a while now,”

“If you don’t want to tell me-”

“No, I want…” He shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts. “I need to tell you this because it’s really important…” 

“Oh okay!” Francis sent him a small smile and Arthur wanted nothing more than to...kiss the stupid smile off of his face.  _ ‘Stupid, annoying feelings, spit it out! already’  _

“I think that I-” The sound of a phone ringing cut him off and they looked at each other for a few seconds. Francis’s phone was ringing. It stopped him from confessing.

“We should go, oui?” the Frenchman grabbed his wrist without asking and began dragging him off. “We can talk later, I promise…”

“Where are we going right now?” Arthur was beyond confused but didn’t hesitate to continue following him. It was out of the blue and wasn’t like him. This had to have been...well what could possibly have Francis so giddy? The whole time he was being dragged, Francis hadn’t said a word, but he could hear soft chuckles come from him. 

He hadn’t realized where he was until he felt himself being pushed into a taxi. “Am I at least going to get a small clue?” 

“Then that would ruin the surprise,”

“Surprise?” Arthur felt as clueless as he probably looked. ' _Was that why he offered to spend time with him?'_ Did he have a surprise up his sleeve the whole time? Butterflies entered his stomach and he could feel himself turn red.  _ ‘Why is he always...so...confusing…’  _ When they made it to their destination, Francis dragged him out once again and he surveyed his surroundings and realized they were at Francis’ home.  _ ‘Weird…’  _ Before he could speak, he felt a pair of palms cover his eyes and lead him into some random direction.  _ ‘It’s literally only Christmas, what could he possibly surprise me with-’  _

The sound of the front door opening caught his attention, but nothing could’ve truly prepared him for what was next. “Surprise!” 

“Huh?” He swatted Francis’s hands away and was met with Alfred attempting to place a star on the Christmas tree while Matthew attempted to prevent him from falling. “You two be careful with that!”

“Pish posh we’re fine-” Alfred toppled over onto Matthew and they landed on the floor with a loud thud. Arthur ignored the groans coming from the pair and turned to look at Francis.

“So this was your master plan?”

“Not bad huh,” Francis walked around him and continued to play coy. “Look at that, Matthew made cookies for us to decorate!”

He stood there, still confused but then another thing made its way to his mind. “Hey Matthew, how’s Ivan?” 

“Why would Mattie know that, he’s been busy all day?”Alfred questioned, making his way over to him. He took a peek at Matthew’s face and as expected there was a weird sense of terror.  _ ‘Whoops…’  _

“Yeah, I don’t really talk with him, I wouldn’t know how he’s doing…” The Canadian chuckled nervously and also came into the kitchen, ignoring both Francis and him. He looked at Francis while the French man looked at him and they gave each other odd looks.  _ ‘We’ll bring it up another time…’  _ All four nations stared down at the cookies and chaos erupted in less than 5 minutes between Matthew and Alfred

“Give me the red Al, I literally called it first-”

“Wait for your freaking turn-”

Arthur stared at the twins and decided it was best if they handled this one on their own. He’d intervene need be. He grabbed a random set of colors and began decorating without a thought in the world and continued to do so for the next few cookies. Christmas music continued to play  but it was hard to hear over Alfred and Matthew either bickering or just laughing over something stupid. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked at the Frenchman.  “What was it that you needed to tell me by the way?”

“I…” His mind automatically went back to the moment on the peire and he over squeezed the icing on the cookie.  _ ‘Bloody hell…’  _ He was in the midst of confessing until the phone had rung. “I-”

“Jesus christ, I could literally win in a snowball fight automatically you Canadian-”

“Why’re you so dense, I’d clearly win-”

“Have you ever considered that maybe I could win?” Francis added in. Silence settled between all four of them then all of a sudden the twins burst into a laughing fit and he couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“Mattie, get a load of these two senior citizens!” Alfred stood from his chair and pointed at the both of them. “Us versus you two then, winners get to pick the movie, deal?”

“What is up with you and wagering movies?” 

“Because I hate the movies you both watch Artie!” Both Matthew and Alfred stuck out their hands and Francis and he shook them without issue. “You old men are on-”

“Call me old one more time!” Arthur defended, standing from his chair nearly squeezing Alfred’s hand in annoyance. “I’ll show you old!" The twins stuck their tongue out and quickly headed outside while discussing something along the lines of a snow-fort.  _ ‘I can’t believe we raised those two…’  _

“So are you ever going to tell me what you needed to tell me?” Francis leaned back in the chair and finally looked at him. “I’m getting tired of this suspense,”

He needed to spit it out...but did it matter if he told him that he loved him? Francis had admitted to loving someone else, so what good would this do? He messed with his thumbs and looked at his fingers. “How do you know you’re in love with someone?”

“Well that’s a tough one considering that it’s different for everyone…” Francis scratched his chin in thought “But...one thing for sure is that when you love someone...you crave their presence because they bring you a sense of peace and you cherish them deeply and are willing to look through their flaws because even with those flaws, that person is still perfect to you.” 

Arthur noticed the distant tone in his voice and realized Francis had been staring at him the whole time. “Why’re you staring at me like that?” While it made him feel embarrassed, something about Francis' gaze made him feel vulnerable...but yet safe.  _ ‘Jesus christ, just say you love him!’  _

“Because you’re very cute when you’re flustered…” Francis reached over to put a hair behind his ear and Arthur slightly leaned into the touch, but then let out a flustered sigh. 

“Why do you do this?” Arthur crossed his arms in defiance and wanted to shake Francis’ hand away, but it was too comforting. “You say stupid lies and just go on-”

“Who said they were lies?” Arthur felt himself grow annoyed as the seconds passed and ignored Francis’ last words.  _ ‘Stop getting your hopes up high, you idiot!’  _

“Please don’t-”

“Don’t what, tell you how I’m feeling-”

“God damn it, Francis-”

“Stop blocking out how you feel-” 

Arthur snapped, standing from his chair. “I want you to stop doing that stuff because it makes me love you, even more, you bloody idiot!" The silence that settled between both of them was loud and it only served to make the brit feel sick.  _ ‘I can’t believe I just said that what if he-’ _

The Frenchman pulled him onto his lap and pushed their lips together and Arthur felt himself quickly melt into the unexpected kiss. He needed to push Francis away. This could all be a stupid ruse...but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the stupid arms that held onto him. The stupid arms that brought him comfort...The stupid arm that had always been there to comfort him. He finally separated their lips and looked at Francis, who was just giving him a smile.

“I love you too-”

“Don’t-”

“Let me finish…” Francis interrupted, pulling him closer “I’ve loved you for centuries and I would’ve thought you caught on a long time ago, but it seems you are much dense than I thought and I dropped hints today, but you still didn’t catch on-”

“Y-you were talking about me earlier today?” He slightly tilted his head in confusion and felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulder. The whole day, he had assumed Francis’ was talking about Alistair, but it was him the whole time.  _ ‘He’s thought those things about me for centuries and all I’ve done was be a complete asshole…’ _

“I’m not sure who else you thought I would’ve been talking about, but oui,” 

For the first time in a long time, he felt a genuine sense of joy that he hadn’t felt in years. This was a joy that made his heart swell and feel nothing but complicated because he had no way to express-

“Why’re you crying, Arthur-”

“Because you’re an idiot!” He blurted.  _ ‘He confesses his feelings for you and you call him an idiot… this is why no one wants to deal with you!’  _ He felt a hand wipe a few tears away and quickly held onto them. “I..” To his surprise, Francis only laughed at the insult and it made him hate himself even more. He was so poor at expressing his feelings, even in a serene moment like this, yet Francis didn’t even get mad. “You’re an idiot for loving me-”

“Yes, I know but if that makes me an idiot, then I’m the biggest idiot on the planet, how about that?”

“Stop being…” Arthur turned even redder and just opted in hugging him. “Stop being so nice to me…” He allowed himself to melt into Francis’ arms and a calm feeling overcame him as Francis continued to rub his back. 

“Should we go entertain the other two?” Francis suggested, but made no move to let go.

“Not yet…” Arthur rested his head on the other nation’s shoulder. “I just want to be like this...for a little longer…”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed! The title actually comes from a song "Bloom Later" by Jesse Rutherford.  
> Thanks for reading!


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